Monday, February 16, 2009

Human Again

I think perhaps I am finally starting to feel marginally human again ...

Following my trip to the Emergency Department at Backus Hospital on Saturday, I thought I felt well enough to go into work yesterday morning even though I was seriously debating whether or not that was a really good idea. Getting paid for 16 hours or not getting paid for 16 hours is a pretty strong incentive, though, so I opted to suck it up and limp my way into work. Getting my uniform on was rather amusing but I somehow managed and made it to work without incident.

It was supposed to be my day to be on the ambulance side of the console but I felt that considering I could barely move, it might be best if Jen took over that side. She agreed even though she had almost no voice due to the upper respiratory illness she'd had going on for about a week or so. I'm not sure if we were in a dispatch center or an infirmary but at least we were there and doing our best. Jen kept coughing and I kept cringing but we were getting the job done.

Several hours into the shift, I started to feel really bad and it wasn't just my back at that point but my head and a nasty case of the chills. With each subsequent phone call my voice wa

s getting worse and worse and finally Jen looked at me and asked if I was going to make it. I honestly had to answer 'no' as it was getting to the point where I couldn't even keep my eyes open and even though it was Chick Flick Sunday and we were watching "Nights in Rodanthe", I couldn't keep my head up enough to even watch the screen. I know the second movie we watched was "The Duchess" but try as I might, I can't for the life of me remember what the first movie we watched was! Now how bad is that?? The main thing I remember about "The Duchess" is that it was kind of depressing and that Ralph Fiennes' character, the Duke of Devonshire, was a total jerk but other than that ... heh ...

Finally at 4:00 I told Jen that I hated to abandon her but that I really needed to go home. I didn't just feel like Death Eating a Cracker, I felt like Death Scarfing an Entire Sleeve of Saltines! Somehow I managed to drive myself home where I popped some Valium and Vicodin and put my shivering self back to bed. I woke up long enough at 10:00 to take a second dose and then again at about 1:00 but beyond that, I don't remember much of anything except feeling really, really bad. Leave it to me to not just have back issues but to come down with a flu of sorts at the same time! Oh well, as they say, "in for a penny, in for a pound"! Speaking of pounds, one advantage to being sick for the past few days has meant I don't need to worry about buying any weight loss products to lose a few extra pounds - just not eating at all has done that!

I'm feeling marginally better today and the back pain has almost subsided completely though getting around is still kind of tricky. My head has stopped pounding and my throat isn't burning so I'm going to hope this all means that I have turned a corner and am heading down the Road to Recovery rather than the Path of More Illness! At least I don't have to worry about missing more work as I'm off today and tomorrow and with any luck, I'll feel quite human again by the time I go back in for my double-shift on Wednesday. That's the plan at least! In the meantime, I'm just going to take it easy and not worry about the fact that this new place is still just one big pile of boxes. I'll get to it eventually ...

17 comments:

Well, Duchess Linda, I suppose that "marginally better" is a start on your road to recovery.That's good to read that your back pain has "almost" subsided. I hope it is completely subsided really soon!Enjoy your days off. Or will that be daze off?? Or doze off??

I still have a teeny cough, more of a lingering annoyance. I hope that's all for you, too. The flu I had was a lulu!

I see you installed Zemanta. I just uninstalled it from both my home and work computers. Windows Live Writer has always been a dream... until it met Zemanta. It started crashing WLR on bother coputers. Off with its head! hahaha!

Stress - a major factor in health issues. Although, sharing a work area with someone hacking and coughing doesn't help! I sure hope you've turned that corner. You deserve a pain-free, enjoyable pathway.~~~Blessings~~~

Hi Linda, you and Jen at the first were sounding like the proverbial 'blind leading blind' fellows. But then it got out of balance, I am sorry. Looks like you weren't quite ready to go back. I do hope you got at least part of a paycheck for your valiant attempt.

How did your move turn out? Climbing stairs with groceries can be tough on the back.

I know how those backs can get really bad. In 2001 mine hurt so bad I couldn't ride in a car, not even stretched out on the back seat.

Once I went to the ER. The doc there was a quack and prescribed me muscle relaxant (stronger than I was on) and Ultram. I when bonco on the Ultram and was rolling on the floor and talking weird.

My own doc at first had me on Vicodin, right now I still have an old bottle six inches high and almost full. Vicodin doesn't work for me.

[End story is that I had a herniated/ruptured L4L5 disc. After a lamenectomy/discectomy I am better since 2001.]

Thanks for peeking again. I like those waves and their sound. You have my permission to tape them to listen to when you're trying to relax.:-)..